The Man in the Hood
by I'm Random
Summary: He seemed familiar, just where did she know him from? She knew him from somewhere, but where? She had to know, and so the chase began. Written before Manhattan Promo aired.


**Hello! This is my first Once Upon a Time story, and I hope you enjoy it. ****If you could review, it would make me really happy to hear what you thought of it. So enjoy the story, and please review! Thank you!**

**I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**UPDATE: For some ****reason, Gold's name wouldn't appear. Sorry about that.**

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him. The man in the dark jacket, his identity concealed by a hood.

She shouldn't have looked, but she felt something. No, not that stupid "love at first sight" feeling, but something completely different. She couldn't really explain what it was that made her watch, but she felt as though she knew him somehow. Maybe she met him somewhere before? Maybe she saw him while waiting for her coffee? She didn't know. His walk was familiar and she wanted to know why.

Behind her she could hear the voices of her son and Gold, talking of New York and how different it is from Storybrooke. How the cars were more numerous and how many people crowded a single street.

She tuned their voices out, choosing to focus on the man instead who was gradually getting farther and farther away.

_Come back! _She wanted to yell, but her lips remained shut.

She had to know. She had to know what significance he had on her. Thinking to herself she tried to clear her mind of the hazy fog, but it wouldn't lift. She closed her eyes and searched her head for a name, a face, or anything really about this man.

She only saw the light of a sunny day in New York City when she opened her eyes.

She scanned the sidewalks, but couldn't find the hooded man. Where was he? Where did he go? She looked past the crowds of people, frantically searching for this man. After a few seconds of worry she found him at the end of the street, running farther and farther away.

Gold noticed her focus on the running man, and walked in front of her, blocking her view and causing her to lose sight of him. She looked at him, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Miss Swan?" he questioned, a smile forming at his lips.

She peered over his shoulder, watching as the man turned the corner. This was her chance, this was her chance to figure out who the hell he was.

Escaping Gold's stare, she ran around him, chasing after the mystery man.

"Mom!" she heard Henry call.

"Miss Swan!" she heard Gold yell.

But she ignored them, running through the crowds of people, trying to catch up to him.

Eventually, the man turned and noticed her running. He stood for a moment, frozen in time, then he turned once again and sprinted away from her.

She loved a good chase. She ran faster, everything beginning to form a blur around her. She did not notice it, however, for she was far too focused on chasing the man with the dark hood ahead of her. She could see that he was trying to outrun her, but it was hopeless, she was too fast. He started to appear closer and closer, which made her excited. Soon the chase will be over-

She stopped in her tracks. Where did he go? He was running in front of her and now he's gone? How does that happen? She runs farther and notices a dark alley. She hears pantingfrom within it. Turning into the alley, she finds the man leaning against a trash can, catching his breath. He notices her and topples the trash cans onto the ground, blocking her path. She barely makes out the dark jacket, running farther into the darkness of the alley.

Jumping over the cans and bags of trash, she runs farther into the alley and catches sight of him once again. They both know that she will win this game of cat and mouse, so why does he refuse to give up?

She notices the man only a few feet away from her. _Wait _she thinks _why is he running from me? __Why would he run from me, unless he knows me somehow... _This curiosity makes her speed increase and a few feet closer to him.

_It's now or never_ she thinks.

Jumping forward, she tackles the man to the ground, she hears his face meet the concrete (she'll apologize later). She quickly stands up, looking down at the man before her.

The man in the hood takes his hand, placing it under his nose. Pulling it back, he sees a trail of blood making its way down his hand.

"Damn it Emma..." he states, standing up to face her.

She is not surprised he knows her name, she knew that they had met before. Looking at his hidden face she asks:

"Who are you?"

"Why don't you find out?" he asks, "or did you forget about me?"

She doesn't appreciate his teasing and grabs the dark hood in her hands. With a quick movement, she removed the hood, allowing the little light in the alley to shine on his face.

She stares at him, her eyes growing wide, unable to grasp the truth of this man's identity.

She stands frozen in time, a thousand thoughts running through her head. How? Why? What? She never, in her whole lifetime beleived she would be in this moment. She never expected her past to return to her like this, she never expected she would feel this shaken up as she did now. She never thought her past would resurface after all these years, she never thought it would escape the barriers she placed. She never expected to feel these emotions of love, anger, loss, betrayal, and happiness all at once. She never expected this sort of reaction.

She looks at his face, into his eyes. She remembers him from all those years ago, his smile, his laugh, his love... She never forgot those memories, those adventures she had with him. How could she forget? Those wer her happiest memories. A time when she beleived anything was possible, that there was a happy ever after waiting. Even after the betrayal, she still remembered those times, letting a tear fall for the happiness she lost.

Ever since then she made sure nothing would break her. She built many walls sheilding herself from the outside world and its imperfections.

She made herself strong so that she wouldn't break again.

But she was breaking now.

Looking into his eyes, her walls crumbled. She felt a tear slide down her cheek, showing to the man her inner confusion and emotions.

In a whisper, she says the one person's name that caused her this turmoil.

"Neal?"

* * *

**And that is it, I hope you enjoyed it! I don't know if I should continue it, it is up to you to decide. Thank you for reading, and please review!**


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